Overclocking question

[jesus]

I have a dell inspiron 531 so as you probably know, overclocking is almost non-existant. But what about the video card?

I just got my new 9600GT (which is great btw. double fps in all my games, except UT3. my fps is the same as it was with the 8600. driver issue, maybe?) and it's been factory overclocked. The shader clock is 1625mhz, core clock is 675mhz, and memory clock is 1000mhz. It runs at 41C at 50% fan. (my 8600 used to run at 57C, but then it ran at 52C when I put my new PSU in). When I first turn my computer on, it runs at 30C but gradually goes up.

It also comes with this nifty tool called "Xtreme Tuner" that lets me adjust the fan speed, overclock, test (for any artifacts I guess?), and displays the temp.

So, is there any chance of overclocking it a bit more? If so, how much more? And what kind of difference will there be in games?

[TheSpark29]

I'd recommend Rivatuner for overclocking. I'd boost the core to 700, and see how much higher you can go. Just increase by 5mhz until your system shows signs of instability/artifacts. I've seen 750MHz on stock cooling, but it was likely a binned part. GL

[jesus]

Do I have to restart my computer every time I increase it?

[camper.]

Use Rivatuner and ATITool for overclocking.

You don't have to restart at all.

[jesus]

ok so how will it affect gameplay? will I actually see an increase in FPS?

[Frostie]

ok so how will it affect gameplay? will I actually see an increase in FPS?

The whole point of overclocking is getting more FPS/better performance :P. So yes, you will see noticably more FPS. My XFX 9600 GT XXX comes factory overclocked at 700 core/1790 Shader/2 Ghz Memory , so when it breaks, I still have my warranty to get a new one.

Remember that when you start overclocking, warranty will be broken. This also applies when you put a different cooler on your card.

[.Gunfire]

unless you have XFX, right?

[Frostie]

unless you have XFX, right?

You mean warranty won't get screwed when you put on different cooler on XFX cards? No idea, what I've heard is that you can't RMA your card if you overclocked it or put a different cooler on it, no matter what company it came from. XFX just provides factory-overclocked cards, for a slightly higher price of course (let's say 10~20$ more) than reference model cards.

By the way other brands also provide factory overclocked cards, for example MSI (http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?op...=6023&Itemid=1) and BFG (http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgr96512gtoce.aspx) do the same.

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Practically every graphics card company in existence sells pre-OCed cards, since otherwise all of the companies would have identical products and the market would stagnate.
And overclocking won't necessarily void your warranty; many manufacturers actually include overclocking utilities with their cards.

[jesus]

Ok the default clocks on my 9600GT are 675mhz core, 1625mhz shader, 1000mhz (2000mhz) memory. I've only overclocked the core which I changed from 675mhz to 720mhz.

So far, I've had no problems. The temp hasn't increased at all. It's still sitting at 43C at idle, and 50 - 55C under load (depends what game I'm playing. BF2 tends to raise the temp more than Cod4)

Now, if problems do arise (like artifacting) that would be because the card is overheating, right?

And in rivatuner, where you do the overclocking, it says my shader clock is 1625mhz, but in the monitoring section, it says it's 1600mhz. Which one is right?

[=98=]

And overclocking won't necessarily void your warranty; many manufacturers actually include overclocking utilities with their cards.

But they still say OC'ing breaks warranty since people could purposely over volt it and claim an RMA.

[jesus]

I overclocked the core to 740mhz now, and still, no increase in temperature both under load, and idle.

Which one gives the biggest performance boost? core, shader, or memory?

[=98=]

Core.

[jesus]

Ok. well, I kept overclocking it and the temps didn't change, which I thought was weird. So I restarted my computer and when I loaded up rivatuner + the overclocking utility that came with the card, both showed that the clocks were set back to default.

what did I do wrong?

[=98=]

Probably didn't save the overclock. It means if you comp crashes because it's too high, it boots to default again.